Welcome Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen.



Welcome Lords, Ladies and Gentlefolk.

This blog will be devoted to my literary and cosplay interests and stories set in my own alternative historical steampunk background. I hope people enjoy the stories, as much as I enjoy devising and writing them and that it stimulates their own artistic interests, entertains them or if nothing else fires their own imaginations.

A special note to new readers of this blog, the entries "Nation States" are gazetteers of the nations as they exist in the An Age of Steam, Steel and Iron background, each with a few remarks/observations about each nation as they exist within. Any post headed by the title containing the words "Story Snippet" or "Fragments" is a stand alone, snapshot of the background, they will be developed into fuller stories in future, but at present they serve to give the viewer/reader a measure of what this world is like, what is going on in it and who some of the players are. Full stories, will be headed by their title and a roman number, as they will generally be in several parts.

Comments, suggestions or remarks by readers are welcomed.

I would like to thank the following people:

Yaya Han, for getting me seriously interested in cosplay at a time when things were looking very glum for me back in 2006 with several extended stays in hospital due to illness, and motivating me to get actively involved.

Ashley Du aka UndeadDu, for her unfailing friendship and cheerful support since we first met in 2014 at the Hamilton Comic Con, and for being my Cosplay mentor and advisor.

Sara Marly, for her interest in and support for my writings, since we first met in 2016 at the Hamilton Comic Con and incidently helping me make up my mind to finally do this.

Stephen Thomson, my friend, for his advise and assistance with creating and setting up this blog.

Daniel Cote, my friend and co-worker for his advise and friendship over the years.

The People of the The Aegy's Gathering (particularly Jonathan Cresswell-Jones, Scott Washburn and Jenny Dolfen, all of whom I have kept in contact with over the years), who were brought together in friendship by a certain randomness of chance and a common interest in the Honor Harrington books and stayed together despite distance and the strains of life.


The People of the Wesworld Alternative History website, who gave me the opportunity to sharpen my writing and story telling skills while directing the affairs of Lithuania and briefly France during their 1930s timelines.

My parents Mary Ellen (1946 - 2019) and Logan, my siblings Adam and Danika and various friends both online and at work and play for putting up with me, encouraging and supporting me both in the very good times and the very bad times.

I remain as always yours very sincerely, your obedient servant, Matthew Baird aka Sir Leopold Stanley Worthing-Topper








Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Some Thoughts on the Development of Airpower in A.A.S.S.I.

Heavier-then-air aircraft i.e. aircraft or airplanes are a fairly recent innovation in the A.A.S.S.I. background although the principles of flight have been well understood since Antiquity. Innovation in aircraft design lead to the development of lighter-then-air travel becoming widespread before the 19th century, via the medium of hot air balloons and those using later lifting gas of superior performance such as hydrogen and helium gas.

Further experimentation lead to the development of blimps, semi-rigid and rigid dirigibles or airships. Attempts to develop steam powered aircraft however were something of a dead end as the particularities of steam engines fire boxes and boilers do not lend themselves to air travel, although air plane designs powered by steam ball/accumulators did enjoy some success as they dispensed with furnaces and boilers altogether, but often these designs lacked extended endurance in flight and were subject to varied power plant performances at different altitudes and atmospheric pressures. Both early observation balloons, early airships and aircraft played a innovative although often mixed part in land and sea warfare through several wars including the Napoleonic Era and later wars such as the Crimean War and the American Civil War, as did the fast emerging sky ship technologies.

As if the 1880s, air power of all three types: airplanes, dirigibles/airships and sky ships, are integrated into the various countries militaries, although no one as yet has all three weapons systems in an separate national air force, most aircraft or airships are part of either a given army or navy's branches, while sky ships still tend to be the preserve of most navies, except in one of two rare cased of land locked countries, which have no regular naval forces save perhaps riverine forces.